Numbing also reflects deep grief

John Krikorian stood before a makeshift memorial on a concrete jersey barrier next to his auto body shop on Franklin Street. He looked tired and said he’s barely slept since a mother of four plowed into two parked cars at his shop, killing her 3-year-old son and injuring another.

The memorial was a typically poignant arrangement — candles, signs, roses and teddy bears, all devoted to the memory of little Jayden Figueroa, the toddler with the goofy grin, whose senseless death has caused not only community anguish, but harsh and even cruel judgments against the woman behind the wheel.

Krikorian said he arrived at the heartbreaking scene as Jayden was loaded onto a stretcher and placed in an ambulance. Nearby, he saw a woman standing near his shop.

“I asked my foreman, ‘Who’s that?’ ” Krikorian recalled. “He said, ‘That’s the mother, the driver.’ I said, ‘No way.’ She was just standing around, no emotion. It was so weird ... She was asking the guys if she could use their cellphone. She came over to me and asked me to get a bottle of water from her car. I told her to ask the police.”

Christina Castro was allegedly speeding away from a minor fender bender with three young sons when her Toyota Camry slammed into parked cars at Etre’s Auto Body about 10:15 p.m. Monday. Police said she was driving at least 70 mph in a 30 mph zone. None of the boys was restrained or wearing a seat belt; her 7-year-old is in critical condition, while her 5-year-old escaped serious injury.

The alleged facts of this horrific case have sparked near-universal condemnation of the 27-year-old mother in the blogosphere and beyond, where strangers are demanding answers. What kind of mother drives around with her kids so late on a school night? Why was she speeding? Why weren’t those poor kids wearing seat belts?

Do these questions help us feel better about ourselves?

Meanwhile, her televised arraignment for motor vehicle homicide, which showed a wide-eyed but otherwise calm Ms. Castro, only led to more speculation that she’s not quite ... right. She’s too nonchalant, too detached. Where are the tears, the remorse?

Friends and relatives have described Ms. Castro as a devoted mother. Her lawyer, Gregory White, said the incident was “so out of character for her” and that his client is in shock. He said neither drugs nor alcohol were involved in the accident.

“She’s absolutely devastated,” White said. “People react differently to shock. These kids were her life. She’s never been in a situation like this and now she’s sitting in Framingham.”

He said Ms. Castro was headed home to her nearby apartment on Wall Street before the crash. He said Ms. Castro’s husband, Luis, is “extremely supportive of his wife,” who is being held on $50,000 bail. White said he plans to ask the court if she can attend her son’s funeral.

In a foreshadowing of a probable defense, White noted that the alleged crime was neither premeditated nor intentional, and that the defendant here is also a victim.

“No matter what the criminal justice does to her, she’s already been dealt a huge punishment,” he said.

White’s words won’t matter to many, because we’ve become a society that makes snap judgments and demands instant retribution. But all we know, today, is that a young mother made some tragic and reckless choices that will surely haunt her forever. Is it really necessary to pile on when she’s trapped in a hell beyond imagining?

“Two cars on my property have been totaled,” Krikorian said. “But nothing compares to a little baby. It’s so terrible that I can’t sleep.”

And he didn’t even know Jayden, let alone raise the child who died too soon.

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